The Flames Of Alu

Ailwin knelt at the altar, a mosaic of a young blue-clad woman above him. He tried to focus, but to no avail, So much had happened, after that one night out... Was he lucky that he wasn't caught in the fire with the rest of them, or unlucky that he had to live without them? All these thoughts coursed through his head, and he grit his teeth. "Damn Ulley, damn Vallea, damn all of them." He never thought an Altalar like him would be right in the middle of an Old Gods temple, yet here he was. The Pantheon had forsaken his family, so why not him? It was better to start fresh, with another group. But he just couldn't focus. The same three images kept appearing in his mind's eye: fire, smoke, ashes. "Ughhh... What's wrong with me? Memory won't bring them back..."

A kind hand tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked up. An elderly woman in the same dress as the mosaic depiction smiled down at him. "Hello, my child. Have you come to worship the herald of death, Alu?" The look still on Ailwin's face must have startled her, because she backed up a few paces. "Are you alright, my child?"

Ailwin realized how hateful he must have looked, and his expression softened. "My apologies... I have, but I just can't seem to... to focus. Is that normal?" He absentmindedly cracked his knuckles, and pain shot through him as he pressed down on the tender burns on his palms. Ailwin yelped softly, and the priestess came closer to check. Upon seeing the burns, she nodded knowingly.

"Has tragedy befallen you, my child? Many who come here are here for that reason." She extended a hand to him. "I know of an art that you can channel all that grief into." The woman turned her hand upward for Ailwin's view, electricity beginning to crackle at her fingertips. "While this is the Union of Water, strong emotions of any kind can be just what you need to make sorcery work for you."

Ailwin considered this for a moment, nodding. "What do I have to learn? It would be good to get this off of my mind, and it would fit to honor my heritage by learning sorcery like this... please teach it to me."

The woman nodded, turning to gesture to the room around them with her other arm. "Look around, see if anything... any force, catches your eye. It would be that it applies to you the most. Elemental sorcery can be what you wish, but I find everyone to have a preference." Ailwin would glance around the room, images of flame again appearing in his mind. His eyes were caught on a brazier in the corner of the room, and he pointed in that direction. The woman beckoned, and the two walked over to the object. "Go on, my child. Gaze into the flames, and concentrate. Know it as you know yourself, and focus on that fire within you. Bring it forth."

Ailwin took a deep breath, locked the image of flames in his mind, and closed his eyes. As he visualized energy flowing from his heart and mind to his hands, something hit him all at once. Ailwin saw a series of images, almost like his life flashed before his eyes. He clutched his face, groaning. Ailwin saw an image of his family: his mother, father, brother, and sister. He saw an image of himself playing with his siblings. Of talking with them late into the night. Of waking up that fateful morning on the hill overlooking his house to find it aflame. Of thrusting his hands into the ashes and swearing he would have vengeance. And lastly, of his cousin looking back at the scene as he walked away, Ailwin himself struggling to stand and chase him. Kolvar Kudaglel, the one who took everything. As he tried to focus on that image, another one came. Fire... no, more than fire. A raging inferno, held within him, within his mind and soul. He opened his eyes, flames the color of radiant sapphires crawling their way down his arms.

The woman nodded. "It seems you have chosen, then. Know the flames as a blessing of Alu, she whose temple has given you this revelation." Ailwin nodded, exiting the building. This new font of power... he couldn't comprehend where it would take him, but he knew it would end in the death of Kolvar Kudaglel.